Do Not Be Afraid To Get Screened For Breast Cancer

In a recent survey that was conducted, some of the participants said that the main reason that they preferred not to get tested for breast cancer was that they did not want to know the results of the mammogram. They also cited that they were afraid that the more routine health tests that were given to them, the more the physicians would find out the real state of their health.

More and more organizations are speaking out to Nigerian women and other women of color to let them know that they do have to be afraid to get breast cancer screenings. Mammograms that are considered “negative” means that everything is fine and you can continue or even improve your current state of health. If a mammogram comes back “positive”, you do not have to be immediately concerned. This means that the test detected something that may or may not be malignant. Of course you will have to undergo further testing to make sure that everything is okay. Most of the time the mass is not malignant, but if it is, you probably got tested early enough so you can have a complete recovery.

If you do wait to be screened for breast cancer, you have a greater chance of being diagnosed with an advanced stage of cancer. This will leave you and your physician with fewer options, and your post cancer survival percentage will decrease. The best way to avoid this scenario is to be proactive in your health so you can make sure that you will be around for your loved ones.

The Breast Cancer Statistics

Caucasian women have a greater chance of developing breast cancer compared to Nigerian women, but women of color are at greater risk of dying from breast cancer. In women that are under the age of 40, women of color are diagnosed with breast cancer more than Caucasian women. This cancer is the second most common type of cancer in women, skin cancer is the first.

Some recent statistics have been released that really puts this entire situation into focus:

Over 200,000 new cases will be diagnosed in women that have invasive breast cancer.

Over 55,000 new cases will be diagnosed in women that have an early stage of breast cancer, commonly referred to as carcinoma in situ.

Over 30,000 women will succumb to this cancer.

The number of women that have been diagnosed with breast cancer have decreased greatly from the number of cases that were diagnosed 20 years ago. This has been largely credited to the fact that there are fewer women over the age of 50 taking hormone therapy. This therapy has been suspected of causing breast cancer in women.

You Should Be Tested For Breast Cancer Early

It has been recommended that women over the age of 40 be tested on an annual basis for breast cancer. Once a woman becomes 50 years old and older, the number of times they should be tested for breast cancer will be dependent on several factors including:

Age

Health

Diagnosis of Other Illnesses or Diseases

Women that are between the ages of 20 and 40 can choose to perform monthly self-exams, or have a clinical exam completed by their physician every three yea